A preliminary investigation of sudden gains in exposure therapy for PTSD

The purpose of the current study was to examine sudden gains in those receiving treatment for PTSD and whether these rapid changes were related to overall symptom reduction in a small sample of female assault survivors with PTSD undergoing prolonged exposure (PE) therapy. Sudden gains were found to occur in 52% of the sample. Among those who experienced a sudden gain, the average magnitude (12.4 points) accounted for 61% of overall symptom reduction. Importantly, treatment outcome was better for those who experienced sudden gains than those who did not. The experience of a sudden gain may result in patients becoming more fully engaged with treatment, and recognition of them may result in identifying potential process-related predictors of treatment response.     

Visual kin recognition in nonhuman primates: (Pan troglodytes and Macaca mulatta): inbreeding avoidance or male distinctiveness?

Faces provide important information about identity, age, and even kinship. A previous study in chimpanzees reported greater similarity between the faces of mothers and sons compared with mothers and daughters, or unrelated individuals. This was interpreted as an inbreeding avoidance mechanism where females, the dispersing gender, should avoid mating with any male that resembles their mother. Alternatively, male faces may be more distinctive than female faces, biasing attention toward males. To test these hypotheses, chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys matched conspecifics' faces of unfamiliar mothers and fathers with their sons and daughters. Results showed no evidence of male distinctiveness, rather a cross-gender effect was found: chimpanzees were better matching moms with sons and fathers with daughters. Rhesus monkeys, however, showed an overwhelming bias toward male-distinctiveness. They were faster to learn male faces, performed better on father-offspring and parent-son trials, and were best matching fathers with sons. This suggests that for the rhesus monkey, inbreeding avoidance involves something other than facial phenotypic matching but that among chimpanzees, the visual recognition of facial similarities may play an important role.     

More than Words: Applying the Discipline of Literary Creative Writing to the Practice of Reflective Writing in Health Care Education

This paper examines definitions and uses of reflective and creative writing in health care education classrooms and professional development settings. A review of articles related to writing in health care reveals that when teaching narrative competence is the goal, creative writing may produce the best outcomes. Ultimately, the paper describes the importance of defining literary creative writing as a distinct form of writing and recommends scholars interested in using literary creative writing to teach narrative competence study pedagogy of the field.     

Imagining Women’s Fertility before Technology

In the modern world, technology has enabled us to understand the connections between the menstrual cycle and female fertility and to observe the reproductive process even from conception. Unable to see inside the living body, however, eighteenth-century people imagined reproduction and fertility holistically. Their understanding of fertility was inseparable from the way in which they imagined the inner-workings of the humoral body. Although menstruation was understood to be connected to reproduction, it was considered unreliable, a peripheral indicator of fertility. Above all, the best marker of a woman’s fecundity was good overall health.     

“The Bigger the Network the Bigger the Bowl of Cherries...”: Exploring the Acceptability of,and Preferences for,an Ongoing Support Network for Known BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 Mutation Carriers

There is increasing evidence to suggest that the ongoing information and support needs of BRCA gene mutation carriers are not being met. This qualitative study investigated preferences for an on-going support network for mutation carriers in Wales, UK. Seventeen female BRCA1/2 mutation carriers participated in focus groups which explored their current and on-going information and psychological support needs. The interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed. The results reflected a diversity of experiences and support needs. The majority of participants felt they and their families would benefit from an on-going ‘support network’ which should incorporate information-provision alongside elements of a traditional support group alongside, internet-based support such as web-based chat forums, matching schemes and professionally led workshops. Some degree of professional input into any such initiative was believed to be important. This study has informed the development of an appropriate support network based on a hub and spoke model to help carriers and their families adapt to living and coping with their genetic risk.     

A Pilot Study of the Development of a Measure Assessing Adolescent Reactions to Parents in the Context of Emotion Socialization

We conducted a pilot study of the initial development of a self-report measure assessing how adolescents react when parents respond in a helpful manner to their sad emotional experiences. Participants were late adolescents (ages 18–20) attending a large, racially diverse urban university (N = 86; 75% women; 46% racial/ethnic minority). A broad range of relationship-oriented literatures (e.g., early childhood and marital) were considered in creating items for the Adolescent Reactions to Parents (ARP) scale. A 3 factor solution (Accepting, Avoidant, and Attacking) appeared to provide the most parsimonious fit to the data. Adequate levels of reliability were observed for each of the three ARP subscales. Zero-order correlations among subscales of the ARP were moderate in strength. Findings indicated that participants who reported more avoidant and attacking reactions also reported more adjustment difficulties including emotion regulation difficulties and symptoms of depression. Results suggest that the ARP scale has the potential to be a valuable tool for advancing knowledge related to the socialization of emotions.     

Children with Special Health Care Needs: Impact of Health Care Expenditures on Family Financial Burden

We investigated the relationship between health care expenditures for Special Health Care Needs (SHCN) children and family perception of financial burden. Using 2005/2006 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs data, a multivariate logistic regression model was used to estimate the relationship between the SHCN child’s health care expenditure and perceived financial burden, while controlling for family and child characteristics. Our analysis suggests that health care expenditures for a SHCN child of $250 and more are associated with family perception of financial burden. In addition, families with lower socioeconomic status also perceived financial burden at lower level of expenditures. Members of the health care team who treat children with SHCN have an important role in understanding and assessing family financial burden as part of the care delivery to the child and the family. Our study reinforces the need to treat the whole family as the unit of care, especially when caring for children with special health care needs.     

The persistence of inferences in memory for younger and older adults: Remembering facts and believing inferences

Research shows that younger adults have difficulty forgetting inferences that they make after reading a passage, even if the information that the inferences are based on is later shown to be untrue. The present study examined the effects of these inferences on memory in the lab and tested whether older adults, like younger adults, are influenced by the lingering effects of false inferences. In addition, this study examined the nature of these inferences, by examining younger and older adults’ subjective experiences and confidence associated with factual recall and incorrect inference recall. The results showed that younger and older adults were equally susceptible to the continued influence of inferences. Both younger and older adults tended to remember facts from the stories but to believe their inferences, although confidence judgments did not differ for facts and inferences.     

Adaptation to different mouth shapes influences visual perception of ambiguous lip speech

We investigated the effects of adaptation to mouth shapes associated with different spoken sounds (sustained /m/ or /u/) on visual perception of lip speech. Participants were significantly more likely to label ambiguous faces on an /m/-to-/u/ continuum as saying /u/ following adaptation to /m/ mouth shapes than they were in a preadaptation test. By contrast, participants were significantly less likely to label the ambiguous faces as saying /u/ following adaptation to /u/ mouth shapes than they were in a preadaptation test. The magnitude of these aftereffects was equivalent when the same individual was shown in the adaptation and test phases of the experiment and when different individuals were presented in the adaptation and test phases. These findings present novel evidence that adaptation to natural variations in facial appearance influences face perception, and they extend previous research on face aftereffects to visual perception of lip speech.     

Evidence for menstrual cycle shifts in women's preferences for masculinity

Over the last decade, a growing literature has shown that women in the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle demonstrate stronger preferences for men with masculine traits than they do when in the non-fertile phases of the cycle (see Gangestad and Thornhill, 2008 and Jones et al., 2008 for recent reviews). In a recent article, Harris (in press; Sex Roles) failed to replicate this increase in women's preferences for masculine faces when women are near ovulation. Harris represented her study as one of only three studies on the topic, and as the largest of the existing studies. There are, however, many more studies on menstrual cycle shifts in preferences for facial masculinity in the published literature, including one that is 2.5 times larger in size than the Harris study. In this article, we review the evidence for cyclic shifts in mate preferences and related behaviors and discuss weaknesses of Harris's methods. Considered as a whole, the evidence for menstrual cycle shifts in women's preferences and behaviors is compelling, despite the failure of replication reported by Harris.